I have been wanting to make a plum cake for a long time now, ever since I had a spiced plum cake at my friend Roli’s home when we stopped by for tea. 

About the recipe

Roli and her daughter had made their cake from scratch, added spices like cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and used plums from their backyard as a topping for their cake.  With so much care and detail going into this cake it was bound to taste amazing 😋.

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Store bought cake mix for an easy route

When I finally got around to making the cake, I was in a lazy mood and didn’t feel like mixing together all the ingredients for a cake batter.  It’s just easier sometimes to buy a cake mix, you know what I mean? it may not have the same homemade taste as a cake made from scratch, however there are ways to jazz up a store bought cake mix.  Just add a few spices and then follow the package instructions.  The end result will still be a delectable cake . My family especially liked the fragrance of the spices and the hint of sourness that came from the skin of the plums.

Spiced Plum Cake
with inspiration from Roli and her daughter Pallavi

Ingredients:

• 1 box of readymade yellow cake mix or vanilla cake mix plus all ingredients needed to make the cake batter – look at the back of the cake mix package to make sure you have the ingredients needed.
• 2 tsp cardamom powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 4 tbsp dark jam such as cherry jam, blueberry, or blackberry jam
• 1/4 cup port or grape juice
• 2-3 large juicy plums cut into very thin round slices

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Line the bottom of a 9″ round cake pan with parchment paper.  Butter the parchment paper and dust flour in the cake pan. Set aside.
• Pour the contents of the cake mix into a bowl. Add cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg and whisk in.

• Next follow the instructions on the cake mix package to make the cake batter.  Set aside.
• In a small bowl mix together juice or port with the jam.
• Place sliced plums at the bottom of your cake pan.  Spoon the jam mixture over the plums.
• Pour the cake batter over the plums. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

• Cool the cake for 15 minutes.  Run a knife around the edges of the cake and invert the cake onto a plate.  Gently remove the parchment paper so as not to dislodge the softened plums.  Plum spice cake is ready.

• Serve plum spice cake dusted with powdered sugar and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.